Hi, I'm Kaye. And besides from being a WAHMaholic, I'm a furniture-aholic as well. I love the smell of the inside of furniture shops, although many people might find it repulsive. There's this semi-large furniture shop along Abanao Road (Unifur Home Furnishing is the name) that's two stories high and has very friendly staff (quite unlike the other shop further along the road, the Balingit Home Furnishing. Its attendant is always glowering like we'd steal their furniture, and would constantly look at her watch and tap her shoes impatiently as if willing us to go out already), that I like to go to even if we have no money on hand. I would just go inside and inspect their new arrivals, planning what I'd buy next.

I haven't been earning this much for very long, so it's only now that I got the chance to buy furniture for our house. I couldn't even afford Cheap Roman Blinds several months back, but now I'm glad I am able to purchase stuff for the home, even if it's just one by one. My latest purchase is a big computer table of my very own, complete with shelves, drawers and all that jazz. We are planning to go back there next month and buy a cabinet for our clothes. And then again on April to buy a bigger sala set, or maybe that cute baby dresser for Svet.

I had a long weekend last week because my mom and my cousin Karla was here. My break started Thursday and I only came back to work properly on Monday. So that's four days of just watching movie, eating, sleeping and going out. We went to Market Encounter at Burnham last Sunday to check out what the stalls have to offer. Most of the prices of the goods are incredulously expensive, but there were also some good buys inside. We had to pay Php10 as an entrance fee, but I think it was worth the trip. Even if it meant more looking than buying.

Slipperssss!

After making the rounds, we looked at the entries for a landscaping competition beside Market Encounter, and boy were the flowers gorgeous. We of course took the opportunity to pose in front of some of the entries, and if it weren't for the rain I don't think we would have left so soon. It was a tiring day because Svet was her usual hyperactive self, refusing to be carried and wanting to just run and run and run. It's not all the time she gets to do that, so we let her be. She was dead tired when we went home. Hee hee.

One of the landscape competition entries

Svet, my cousin Karla, and I

Svet posing in front of another competition entry

I hope to get another long weekend early next month. Mom told me she'd be here again by then and we'd go to the Session Road In Bloom to look at (and perhaps buy some) stuff again. Panagbenga can be tons of fun, especially if you know where to go.

I am. I haven't drunk myself into buffoonery in ages. In fact, I haven't even drunk anything intoxicating at all this past, errr.. three years? Yep. Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I stopped drinking completely. To be honest, I only drank during my late high school and college days because friends do it. I totally hate beer. I barf at the smell of it, and the only way I was able to consume beer during those days was to down it fast. After a while I get immune to the taste, and it's all good after that.

So yeah. I'm not looking to join any wine clubs this year or the next. Paulie has been convincing me to drink with them when he and Lloyd (my sister's partner) have their drinking session. But I stand my ground. I think I am through that phase of my life. And that's one thing I am thankful of when I became a mom. I can now easily swear off things that are not good for my health like alcohol. And smoking. Yeah, I did a teensy bit of that as well when I was young.

Not me, as I have enough work in my hands to keep me occupied for three lifetimes. My daughter Svet is. I know she feels it's almost the weekend, and she's already showing signs of utmost boredom. Today she watched Disney movies almost the whole day, and played Plants Vs. Zombies with me when I took a break from work. But that's about it. Her dad does not play with her all the time anymore because he's busy himself, making vectors for submission to stock photo sites.

I hear her in the background now, singing to herself while trying to sleep. She takes hours before she can actually sleep, and she just lied down so I know the singing will go on for a couple of hours more. I will retire to bed a bit later to join her, but right now Mommy still has to finish some work. I sometimes wish she has someone else to play with, like a nanny perhaps? But I don't think that's wise economically for us right now. Oh well. At least she's learning to be independent this early. And of course we'll spend time outside during the weekend, to compensate for her boredom during weekdays.

My friend Fedhz offered to have her logo designers make me a logo for my WAHMaholic blog. It's free, so of course I said yes. Besides, I really suck at graphic design, and only rely on Paulie to make the the vectors I need these days. And oh, what joy when I saw the final results! There are two versions, both of which are lovely. One of them is waiting to be incorporated in my new template design. Well, at least I hope I get a new template designed for myself sometime soon. Want to see?

It makes me giggle just looking at it. Why wasn't I given a talent like that? Could have come in handy with what I do for a living. Sheesh.

Don't you agree? Apparently, I am not the only one who thinks so, because I just Googled it, and there's this Facebook page with tons of fans which has the same name as the title of this post. I have two cousins who live in London, and the younger one, having moved to that lovely city in a younger age, has acquired the thick accent so wonderfully. She refuses to talk like that when she's here, though, so it's kind of a bummer. I would have loved to hear her talk British non-stop.

Me and Paulie recently watched Going The Distance (where Drew Barrymore and Justin Long played the lead roles) and there's this Damon character (played by actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen) who's sooo hot he makes me want to cry because he has a thick, lovely British accent and he was portrayed to love his mum a lot. I think I love him now. Another one in the list of the hottest men in Hollywood.

My blog designs portfolio site is on a subdomain of my WAHMaholic blog. It already has a PR1 and I think it's quite comfortable where it resides now. However, the OC in me insists that I get its own domain. It doesn't get a huge amount of traffic, don't get me wrong, so I don't think I would need business web hosting anytime soon. I do wanta more professional feel to the site, though, and for me that includes a website's own .com domain.

Of course I know I will lose its Page Rank if and when I move, and that's one of the biggest factors that's holding me back. Added to that is the fact that I need to market the new domain again to make it known to new and old clients. And it would need a new theme as well. Oh dear. That's a lot of work for someone whose time management is not the greatest in the world. aybe I'll just sit around, wait and see. No one's forcing me to move anyway.

Although my singing voice is bordering on the seriously unpleasant, I still find our videoke sessions quite enjoyable. No one in the family is a great singer, so I guess that helps everyone not be conscious that their pitch is too high, too low, or most of the times off-key. My mom has a DVD player which mainly functions as a videoke, so we need not hire those huger videoke for rents that can be found here in the neighborhood.

Last time we had a videoke session, my cousin Karla was here and she's one of the people I know who is always game when it comes to singing her heart out. We had fun, and the session lasted until the neighbors called the police because we were too noisy and they were already sleeping. Kidding. We stopped because we were already hoarse from too much singing.

Even back in college with my closest friends, videoke is what we look forward to after (or even before! LOL) a long day of working on our thesis. Coupled with beer and good food, those days are the most I miss looking back.

Hey, who's up for a videoke session tonight? We might have another go at it. It's been like what, a week already since we last sang? Tsk. Too long.

Me and my sisters have been brought up by my mom with little money to go by, and because of that I learned not to covet material things that are deemed unnecessary in our standards. I've learned not to request for Christmas presents, birthday gifts and anything that does not qualify as a really basic need. I don't regret how I've been brought up, though. Because of that I learned how to be contented with what I have.

Although I can't truthfully say that I don't want more income, I am still fully enjoying the fruits of my labor right now. I never dreamed that I would become a WAHM, much less earn this much (no, I won't tell you an exact figure. I'm secretive like that. Just know that I earn a lot more than the average 8-5 employee), and I'm overwhelmed by how we don't need to borrow money from relatives anymore, and how money seems to come easy these days.

And even though there's still a lot of things on my to-buy list (like a more powerful graphics card (geeky, I know), eye wear for when my eyes hurt from too much working, and additional furniture (I'm a furniture addict, FYI), I won't be feel that something is missing in my life if I don't get those.I already have everything that I need in this life: a loving family, a just-right income, true friends, good health.

In my almost twenty seven years of existence, I have experienced ups and downs that made me who I am today. I regret a lot of things that happened, but I have a lot more to be thankful for in this life . I know that a single post cannot encompass everything and everyone that I am grateful for, but here's me making a list just the same.

Svetlana. My daughter, above all others, is the one that I am thankful for. Without her I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now, without her I wouldn't know the feeling of being a mother. Best freaking feeling in the world, I tell you.

Paulie. I am thankful for my partner and Svet's father, whom without my life wouldn't be complete. He loves Svet more than anything in the world, and that knowledge alone makes me love him even more. I am thankful that he understands my quirks and twists, and although he may not be perfect, I know that he is perfect for me. I am thankful for the almost six years that we've been together.

My mom. What can I say? She's the greatest mom in the world. If not for her, I wouldn't be who I am right now. She's been the epitome of supermom all these years, raising us on her own.

Elijah. Son of my sister Phoebe, who is the sweetest boy in the world and makes my heart smile just by being with him.

My true friends. Who makes me happy when I'm sad, knows every turn of my twisted mind and accepts me for who I am. You know who you are. There aren't a lot of you, but I know all of you are for real.

Baguio City. I am thankful for its cool climate, its quiet environment fit for bringing up a child, its great views, its cheap food, its ukay-ukay stores (therapeutic for a stressed WAHM like moi), its honest taxi drivers, its... well, everything. When we came to live here, I just know I am finally home.

My being a WAHM. Best job in the world, I wouldn't dream of looking for another career, as I thrive in here, I get the best of both worlds and I am very happy with what I do for a living.

My computer. My favorite thing in the world. I wouldn't last for long without it. I think I might even get sick if I was forced to stay away from it. Seriously. Am I not the WAHMaholic? LOL.

My blogs. Aside form being a steady source of income, my blogs also serve as the main outlet of my passion in writing. How sad my life would be without them.

Marce Club. My online life wouldn't be half as happy without them. They are my constant source of advice, inspiration and most importantly, chismis (LOL).

Google. My search engine of choice. I can't imagine a life without it.

Our soft bed. After a long day at work, I am grateful for the blissful comfort that it brings.

Chocquik. For keeping me up late at night.

Typing gloves, thick socks, fluffy slippers and leg warmers. And everything else that helps keeps us warm during extra cold days and nights.

PMB. This group led by Mommy Rubz showed me how addicting Facebook can be given the right motivation. What better reason to become hooked than to connect with fellow bloggers and Pinays!

Well, there you go. Just some of the people and things that I am grateful for. This post serves as an entry to Pinay Mommy Online's Thanksgiving giveaway. We would like to thank all the sponsors of this exciting raffle:

People have been talking about this MTV Cribs feature of Manny Pacquiao's house in Los Angeles so I decided to see it for myself. True, Pacquiao hasn't improved his verbal proficiency much in the English language since he started but boy, who needs English fluency when you have what he has in his life right now. Imagine, he has this wonderful house in LA (tasteful art deco lighting and all that jazz) as well as a couple of other houses far grander than this here in the Philippines. He even has a boxing glove shaped swimming pool at his house in General Santos City, for crying out loud. Talk about living the high life, eh?

He has a lot of family pictures on his walls and his shelves, which is a typical Filipino house characteristic. Huge wall mirrors and a cute George Kovacs lighting look-alike adorn his main bathroom. His kids' rooms are too cute for words, while the master bedroom is gorgeous. He has a fireplace in his swimming pool. How cool is that? I haven't seen the inside of his houses here in the Philippines, but I have a feeling they're much more eye-poppingly awesome than what was featured on MTV Cribs. I wonder if they have a show like Cribs here. Will definitely watch that if they feature Pacman in it.

It's that day of the year when couples have all the reason in the world to be cheesy! What's your plan today? A romantic date with the hubby? A movie marathon session at home? Whatever it is that you plan to do with your special someone, I hope that it brings the two of you closer together. Remember that Valentine's day isn't the only time that we should express our love for people that we love.

Everyday can be Valentine's if we choose it to! And no, of course it doesn't have to be flowers, balloons and chocolates everyday. Love can be expressed in tons of different ways. We each have unique relationships, and what works for some may not work for others. So make your partner happy the best way you know how. No matter how much you plan to spend today (or nothing at all, as I said, whatever floats your partner's boat), just know that it's the thought that really counts.

You'd think, being a blog designer, that I would be able to change my templates frequently. I thought so, too. But since I suck at time management, I hardly have time to tweak my themes, much less update my blogs everyday with new content. It was a new year's resolution that I will pay more attention to my blogs this year, and although I have been a little successful at doing it, I still haven't found time to overhaul all my blogs' look.

I have already asked Paulie to draw mockups for my blogs, and that he's doing at the moment.He's only doing it at nights, though, so it will be some time before he can finish it all. I want a more personalized look for my blogs this time, templates that will be fully customized as opposed to using stock vectors from Fotolia. I want a Custom Logo Design for my WAHMaholic blog, especially, but I still have no idea what I want for the design.

So yes, that means you'll be seeing new templates on my blogs, but the question is when. Of course, I am pretty sure that it will happen within this year. LOL. I hope me and Paulie come up with designs worth keeping for a long, long time.

I am joining my marce's first blogversary giveaway on her Chris Chronicles blog! Since marce Chris joins my GT meme every week, I am a constant reader of her blog. Time passes by so fast, I didn't realize it's her blog's first year anniversary already! I am joining this contest to support my beloved marce and because I want to try my luck on the drawing. Here are the wonderful sponsors of this great giveaway:

My sister Phoebe informed me about this online contest that was launched by one of the local Baguio sellers on Facebook that we sometimes buy from. The mechanics was pretty simple, just submit a photo which includes an item purchased from the seller. I happen to have such a photo in my hard drive, so we decided to submit it. We bought this cute hat from The Clutter Shop and Svet have since been using it during extra cold days when she's playing outside.

The submitted photo with the most number of likes wins the prizes, and contest will run until March 09. I really hope that we win this one, and I'm going to need your precious help. How to like the picture?

Add The Clutter Shop as a friend. You won't be able to see the Like link on Svet's picture unless you do.

Click Like below Svet's picture to make your vote count. Alternatively, you can click on her picture above to go to the album page where her entry is located.

Thank you so much in advance and I'm keeping all my fingers crossed until March 10 when the winner will be announced!